Gallaudet Students Visit NHGRI
Students from Washington, D.C.'s Gallaudet University, the world's only 4-year liberal arts university for students who are deaf and hard of hearing, recently got a behind-the-scenes look at the Human Genome Project during a visit to the National Human Genome Research Institute.
The 12 sophomores and their teacher, Gallaudet biology professor Dr. Kathy Arnos, toured several NHGRI facilities, including the FISH (fluorescence in-situ hybridization) lab, the microdissection lab, and the physical mapping area.
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A Gallaudet student receives a hands-on demonstration from NHGRI's Dr. Paula Gregory (r). |
They also met with NHGRI researcher and Gallaudet graduate Debbie Mosbrook, who shared her experiences of being deaf and succeeding in science. Mosbrook, a predoctoral Intramural Research Training Award fellow in the lab of NHGRI principal investigator Danilo Tagle, explained her work on identifying genes involved in inherited neurodegenerative disorders.
Dr. Paula Gregory, from NHGRI's Outreach and Education Office, said the recent visit was the first time Gallaudet students toured the institute. Gregory, who spoke to Gallaudet students last winter about the Human Genome Project, has helped the university with a science teachers' workshop through a grant from the National Science Foundation.
"A lot of these students had never considered a career in science before," said Gregory. "They really enjoyed meeting Debbie, an excellent role model who showed them 'If I can do this, you can too.' And who knows? We might even see some of them again as summer students."
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